We believe in an evidence-informed approach to bodywork and manual therapy. Experience plays a role, treatment systems play a role, and so does your philosophy on health and well-being. Knowing the research is useful too, and there is a lot of it.
We dug through it and summarized 10 studies worth knowing if you are a manual therapist, bodyworker or soft tissue work enthusiast.
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Ten published studies, one summary each, in the order they appear in the PDF.
4 RCTs · 1 controlled trial · 3 animal studies · 1 case series · 1 review
None of these studies tested Ttool. They're about soft tissue work in general.
After three weekly sessions of Fascial Manipulation®, MR imaging showed more water bound to hyaluronic acid, and the change tracked lower pain and disability scores.
Menon et al. · Int J Environ Res Public Health · 2020 · Case series · 5 participants with elbow painA 20-minute foot massage after gallbladder surgery: pain at 2 hours was 1.26/10 against 3.6/10, with about 3× fewer requests for extra pain medication.
Koraş & Karabulut · J PeriAnesth Nurs · 2019 · RCT · participants after gallbladder removalIASTM and pressure release both cut headache frequency more than sham. Only IASTM also improved pain, disability and cervical alignment.
Ramadan et al. · J Man Manip Ther · 2023 · RCT · participants with tension-type headache, 3 groupsOne minute of instrument-assisted cross-fiber massage, three times a week, raised blood flow and small-vessel growth around healing knee ligaments in rats.
Loghmani & Warden · BMC Complement Altern Med · 2013 · Animal study · 30 rats, knee ligament injuryAfter three weeks of treatment, rat knee ligaments were stronger and stiffer than untreated ones. By 12 weeks the gap had narrowed.
Loghmani & Warden · J Orthop Sports Phys Ther · 2009 · Animal study · 58 rats60% of physiotherapists who use manual techniques report thumb pain during their careers. Those doing more than 20 hours a week were 3.5× more likely to have hand or wrist symptoms.
Snodgrass & Rivett · J Man Manip Ther · 2002 · Review · earlier studies of physiotherapistsA 20-minute back massage daily for five days: 60% of new mothers reached “good” sleep quality, against none in the control group.
Ko & Lee · Midwifery · 2012 · RCT · postpartum women with poor sleepOf three IASTM pressures on rat Achilles tendons (50, 100 and 150 g), 150 g stimulated the most fibroblast activity. Higher pressures weren't tested.
Gehlsen et al. · Med Sci Sports Exerc · 1999 · Animal study · rats with Achilles tendinitisThree minutes of IASTM made no difference to jump height, peak power or velocity in 48 active adults.
MacDonald et al. · Int J Sports Phys Ther · 2016 · RCT · 48 active adults, 19–39One 40-second IASTM treatment raised passive horizontal adduction by 11.1° and internal rotation by 4.8° in college baseball players.
Laudner et al. · Int J Sports Phys Ther · 2014 · Controlled trial · 35 college baseball playersThe PDF gives each study a page or two: what was investigated, what they did, the results and the takeaways.
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